Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's (DPRK) hydrogen bomb test, Beijing issued “resolute opposition” on Wednesday, Jan. 6, according to a report by China Daily.
"We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its denuclearization pledges and stop taking any action that will deteriorate the situation," the Foreign Ministry said in the rare written statement.
China is not alone in condoning the hydrogen bomb test as most countries and international organizations voiced their opposition against the DPRK's act. An emergency meeting was organized by the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday in New York. Ned Price, a spokesman from the U.S. National Security Council, also said that Washington will issue an appropriate response to "provocations."
In the process, details and test impact are currently being gathered to piece together crucial facts believed to have been missing in the official statement released by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency.
The hydrogen bomb test was the fourth nuclear test conducted by the DPRK and sits dangerously close to the Chinese border.
Other nuclear tests performed by the DPRK occurred in 2006, 2009 and 2013, all of which drew fierce reactions and sanctions from various international bodies.
Prior to the DPRK's announcement, the Chinese Earthquake Network originally reported a magnitude 4.9 quake in the nation at 9:30 a.m. Beijing time. It was revealed that the earthquake was apparently a hydrogen bomb test when the state-run Korean Central News Agency and the DPRK released reports of Kim Jong-un ordering the test on Dec. 15 and finalizing it on Sunday.
According to the DPRK, the test was a "total success," and was conducted "in a safe and perfect manner."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environmental Protection is "monitoring the data and will conduct an all-out radiation emergency test in the border area," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. Readings of gamma radiation were reported to be normal.